The Return and The Band
by MistressSara
Summary: House is discharged. Spoilers for the end of season 5. Huddy. One-shot, song fic. A smidge of OOC-ness, but not so much that you'll go "Gosh who is she writing about."


**The Return and The Band**

**Spoilers for Season 5, in particular the last couple of episodes.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song or the characters.**

"**Up on Cripple Creek" is by The Band (I'm not being cute, that's the name of the band).**

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The damn song had been stuck in his head for weeks now. But it was better then the taunting voice of Amber or looking at the sad eyes of Kutner.

**When I get off of this mountain**

**You know where I want to go**

**Straight down the Mississippi river**

**To the Gulf of Mexico**

"Dr. House?" The voice came from the door. He looked away from the window. There was a young nurse standing in the doorway of his cell… room.

"That time already?" He asked, he knew it was. From the window he saw Wilson's car pull up and park in the same spot where he had dropped him off. It had been two very long months but Amber was finally gone… Kutner was gone and he could sleep through the night without help. The detox had been a bitch and he was still in pain. But despite himself, he acknowledged that things were clearer.

House had watched his friend climb out of the car and walk towards the front of the building… She didn't come with him…

**To Lake Charles, Louisiana**

**Little Bessie, girl that I once knew**

**And she told me just to come on by**

**If there's anything she could do**

House was not one to get sentimental but being outside again without an orderly standing behind him, without someone telling him that he only had a few minutes. His apartment had been cleaned since he was last there. Without looking he knew that every stash had been found and disposed of.

Wilson lingered near the door, waiting quietly for House to say something. The drive back to his apartment had been a silent one, only a few small questions back and forth. He didn't ask the question that had been burning inside of him since the day she had come to visit him and he yelled at her, telling her to get out of there.

**Up on Cripple Creek she sends me**

**If I spring a leak she mends me**

**I don't have to speak she defends me**

**A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one**

He couldn't seriously expect her to be THAT understanding. She had been putting up with his crap for the last who knows how many years. He had finally done it, finally drove her away.

"Hello?" Came a voice from the kitchen.

**Good luck had just stung me**

**To the racetrack I did go**

**She bet on one horse to win**

**And I bet on another to show**

_I'm the insane one?_ He asked himself when she entered the living room. _Why don't we take a closer look at her obvious emotional issues that she keeps coming back to a fucked up guy like me. It's not like she's getting anything out of it. The sex had all been in his head. The insults he had hurled at her were very real however_.

**Odds were in my favor**

**I had him five to one**

**When that nag to win came around the track**

**Sure enough he had won**

Despite himself he was happy to see her. Or as close to happy as he could get. The people at the hospital were pretty good but they weren't miracle workers. They could help him get back to the stubborn jackass he was before the Vicodin and the hallucinations.

"Hi." She ventures carefully.

"Hi." He replies.

**Up on Cripple Creek she sends me**

**If I spring a leak she mends me**

**I don't have to speak she defends me**

**A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one**

He knows that it was just a hallucination of his drugged and tired mind. But looking at her standing in the same spot where he had taken off her shirt made him question it again. _No! It wasn't real! You know that it wasn't!_

_But it could be... eventually… maybe?_

**I took up all of my winnings**

**And I gave my little Bessie half**

**And she tore it up and blew it in my face**

**Just for a laugh**

"I hope you don't mind, I cleaned up a bit… a lot."

"You didn't touch my porn did you? Some of those magazines are collectibles." She smiled.

"Your porn is safe." They fell into silence, just looking at each other.

"Anybody want dinner?" Wilson asked suddenly, feeling uncomfortable for being in the room.

"I could eat." She offered.

"Can I use real silverware?" House asked in a mocking tone. "Only plastic and no knives in the loony bin. Can't trust us crazies." The joke fell flat. Wilson just shook his head, much like he would've before the stay at the hospital.

"I'll go for Chinese, we'll work you in with chop sticks first."

**Now there's one thing in the whole wide world**

**I sure would like to see**

**That's when that little love of mine**

**Dips her doughnut in my tea**

"You look good." She smiled again, sitting down on the wicker lounger… the one she had slept on… _NO! She didn't! The only time she slept there was after the bus accident._

"The twins are looking perky as ever. I think I missed them most of all." Despite his comments he was looking at her face and not her chest.

She rolled her eyes and held back a smile, this was the expected step in the dance they tended to do. He hadn't seen her for the last three weeks. He had told her to stay away and she did what he asked, thinking that it was what he needed… _It wasn't_.

**Up on Cripple Creek she sends me**

**If I spring a leak she mends me**

**I don't have to speak she defends me**

**A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one**

They sat together on the couch while waiting for Wilson to get back. He asked how things at the hospital were, what he team was up to, making sure they hadn't killed any patients. These moments together reminded him of something that he would think of while in the hospital.

The shrink would tell him to close his eyes and go to a relaxing place. Desperation to get rid of Amber kept him from making a sarcastic remark about the effectiveness of going to a "happy place." But he did it, nothing else was working.

**Now me and my mate were back at the shack**

**We had Spike Jones on the box**

**She said, "I can't take the way he sings**

**But I love to hear him talk"**

Every time he closed his eyes it started out the same way. He would be in his apartment, playing the piano, a glass of scotch within reach, the pain in his leg gone. This wasn't surprising to him. That came later, he would look up from the black and white keys to see her sitting on his couch. Sometimes she would be reading, other times she would just smile at him while he continued to play.

**Now that just gave my heart a fall**

**To the bottom of my feet**

**And I swore as I took another pour**

**My Bessie can't be beat**

"I'm glad you're back." She said, leaning against the doorframe. Wilson had already been and gone with dinner, but she stuck around. Not because she wanted to keep an eye on him but because she wanted to be near him. He wasn't complaining or telling her to get out. House wanted her around just as much as she wanted to be there.

She had finally decided to get going but for some reason felt compelled to pause at the door. When he didn't say anything else she moved to leave.

**Up on Cripple Creek she sends me**

**If I spring a leak she mends me**

**I don't have to speak she defends me**

**A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one**

"Cuddy."

She turned back to face him. He paused, not sure how to articulate without coming across as sarcastic or suggestive.

"You… you don't have to go."

**Lo, lo, oo hoo...**

**Now, it's hot in California**

**And up north it's freezing cold**

**And this living off the road**

**Is getting pretty old**

His bed is a nice change from the one that had been in his room at the hospital. The one at home is HIS. It's long enough for tall frame, offers him enough room to stretch out. Although not at this moment, if he were to stretch out he would probably knock Cuddy out of the bed.

"I'm sorry I didn't come see you."

"I yelled at you and told you not to."

"Yeah, but when have I ever done what you said."

"Never."

**So I guess I'll call up my big mama**

**Tell her I'll be rolling in**

**But you know, deep down, I'm kinda tempted**

**To go and see my Bessie again**

They had fallen into silence again. Neither one was asleep but neither wanted to speak. Cuddy rolled onto her stomach and draped an arm over his middle.

That song was still stuck in his head but instead of hearing "Bessie" he heard "Lisa." Like it or not she was the one he wanted, his subconscious knew it and now The Band was making it even clearer for him.

**Up on Cripple Creek she sends me**

**If I spring a leak she mends me**

**I don't have to speak she defends me**

**A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one**

**Lo, lo, oo hoo..**

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**So that was my first Huddy fic, hoped you like it. Reviews are appreciated.**


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